Lunchables are, by any possible measure, completely disgusting. And yet if I were to be completely honest I would have to confess that I love them. Haven't had one in years - I can't bring myself to do it - but yeah, I dig it.
I have kind of a "thing" about my food not touching each other, for one thing, and the Lunchables tray does an admirable job of keeping your crackers from getting soaked with ham juice. I also like the DIY assembly aspect, and the fact that you get a lot of little things. It's the same reason I like sushi or appetizer plates. Lots of small bits of food are just more appealing.
The down side to Lunchables being that they are not really anything that any sane person would consider "food." It's mostly chemicals reprocessed and formulated into the shape of ham slices, and it tastes like it. American cheese food, that peculiar chemical stink of cheap deli meat, and dry little crackers. Terrible.
Now comes word that Oscar Mayer is basically marketing a line of upscale Lunchables to adults, and I have to admit that I am intrigued. Better still, they seem to be catering to exactly my demographic: people who can't or don't want to eat grains.
Called Portable Protein Packs, these new creations include a meat, some nuts, and some cheese. There are four different varieties, and each features the little plastic tubs to keep your food separate which I found so appealing in Lunchables.
Of course, one starts to wonder, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just pack my own deli meat, nuts, and cheese cubes in individual Tupperware tubs? Yes it would be. Undeniably so. Better for you, too, because there are a ton of chemicals in these foods. Gross.
It's an interesting approach to reformulating snacks to be a little more healthy, though, and for that alone I have to applaud them.
Image courtesy Oscar Mayer
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